WSS: Ten Kate Friday notes

CHARPENTIER AND SOFULOFLU GO 1-2 ON OPENING DAY
Despite suffering a crash in the middle of the first qualifying session
of the Imola weekend Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) took
a stunning provisional pole time of 1'52.842, almost...

CHARPENTIER AND SOFULOFLU GO 1-2 ON OPENING DAY

Despite suffering a crash in the middle of the first qualifying session
of the Imola weekend Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) took
a stunning provisional pole time of 1'52.842, almost a second faster
than his championship rival Kevin Curtain, and only close to being
matched by Charpentier's on-form team-mate, Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston
Ten Kate Honda), who finished his first day of Imola Supersport action
second quickest.

After his fall Charpentier had to jump on his second machine to set his
very best time, at a new layout of Imola circuit, deposing Sofuoglu from
provisional pole spot in the process. Sofuoglu has been the winner of
the most recent two races in the championship, at Assen and Lausitz, and
hopes to score at least a podium at Imola after his impressive opening
day.

Ronald Ten Kate -- Team Manager

"The best possible start to the weekend and we know from the evidence
of the last few years that this is a good track for us around here.
The riders have done an almost perfect job for us today, putting in
incredible lap times. The track has slowed down a bit but we can see
almost the same times as we set before. That is impressive. We had a
small problem when Sebastien had a crash on his number one machine. That
upset things a bit because we had to swap to his second machine and that
cost us time, because the set-up was quite different to start with. But
he still set his best time on his number two bike. For Kenan it looked
like he would top the sheets until Sebastien had his final say. We are
happy, especially because being almost a second ahead of the field now
means we can concentrate quite a bit on just racing set-up, instead of
chasing a single fast lap. All we can do at the moment is win as many
races as we can and see what the championship will bring."

Sebastien Charpentier -- Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider

(Pole position -- Fastest lap 1'52.842 -- 12 laps)

"I feel good at the moment, I just made a small mistake. I crashed on a
slow corner, losing the front, nothing special. I am happy to be here
because I like the country we are in, and the track. For me it is the
best track for a motorcycle rider. I'll be working hard tomorrow again,
we will maybe try a different set-up to find a better one, and I am
really confident for the rest of the weekend."

"It's OK so far because I came here for the first time on the 600 and
I like the track. My lap times are good and quite close to Sebastien
and I'm sure I can improve tomorrow, and maybe even take the pole. I
will give most of my concentration to the race, because I want to be
really strong there. It's good to be fast now but I have to keep it
until Sunday, as I really want a podium finish here."